KAGAYAMA 3RD IN ASSEN WSB QUALIFYING

2008-04-25 10:02
Team Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama finished the first day of qualifying at Assen with the third fastest time of the day on his GSX-R1000, less then three tenths of a second outside the lap record.

Team mate Fonsi Nieto ended with the fifth fastest time and Max Neukirchner, recovering from a broken collarbone, finished eighth.

Provisional pole went to Aussie Troy Bayliss (Ducati) with Japanese rider Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) second.


Yukio Kagayama - 3rd, 1:40.036:

"Today was not so bad and I didn't have any big problems. We started with one of the bikes with the Valencia set-up and one different. But we soon found that the Valencia set-up didn't work so well so we concentrated on getting the other one to work at this track. We worked a lot on the electronics, the chassis and improving the rear stability so that the bike is smoother and more comfortable to ride. Assen is a track where you have to have a smooth bike if you want to go fast, so this is our first goal."

Fonsi Nieto- 5th, 1:40.195:

"I'm really happy with how today went. The bike is working well - much better then Valencia - even though the set-up is more or less the same! I found a good rhythm and everything was OK, except when I tried to do some quick laps at the end of qualifying, the red flag came out two times and I wasn't able to get in a clean lap. I am happy because I did my fastest lap on tyres that had already done 13 laps. Tomorrow, I hope to do a good Superpole, get a good grid position and challenge for the podium in both races."

Max Neukirchner -8th, 1:40.409:

"This morning I think we went in the wrong direction, but in the afternoon we made the bike a bit stiffer and it was much better. I had a bit of a problem with the bike keeping a good line today, but I think we know what to do tomorrow and hopefully we will make progress. I didn't have any problems with my shoulder today so I think it's going to be OK for the weekend.

Friday WSB qualifying: 1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:39.677, 2 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:40.009, 3 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare) 1:40.036, 4 Smrz (CZ-Ducati) 1:40.064, 5 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 1:40.195, 6 Tamada (J-Kawasaki) 1:40.278, 8 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) 1:40.409.








Source: Team Suzuki Press Office

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